Organizations, academic institutions, data archives, etc. may also create statistical and data resources for voter data. Get to know your university's data archivist and talk to them. They can provide a wealth of assistance and potentially create resources to help you and your researchers.

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[http://road.hmdc.harvard.edu/ ROAD Data] Record of American Democracy

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** '''Description:''' Data project by Gary King and Bradley Palmquist at Harvard. They have created a special data set that brings together election return data from precincts and census data from PL94-171 and STF 3.

** '''Description:''' UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies created a Redistricting Database. Access to California Election Data, repackaged Census and GIS data for ease of use. Data sources include California Statement of Vote, Statement of Registration for all registered voters, for registered voters who actually voted, registered voters who voted by absentee ballot, and registered voters who physically voted at their precinct; and the 1990 and 2000 Census.

** '''Description:''' UCLA Data Archives converted the CPS microdata into SDA. What is SDA? A web-based analysis of survey data. You can run cross-tabulations, regression analyses without needing to have access to (or knowledge of statistical software like SPSS, SAS, STATA). For more information on SDA see: [http://sda.berkeley.edu/document.htm SDA: Survey Documentation and Analysis] from UC Berkeley.

** '''Variables:''' Employment, unemployment, earnings, hours of work, and other indicators. They are available by a variety of demographic characteristics including age, sex, race, marital status, and educational attainment. They are also available by occupation, industry, and class of worker. Supplemental questions to produce estimates on a variety of topics including school enrollment, income, previous work experience, health, employee benefits, and work schedules are also often added to the regular CPS questionnaire.

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** '''Units of analysis:''' Population represented is the civilian population living in the United States; people in the military, living abroad and in institutions are not included in the CPS.

Voter Demographics - Who is eligible to vote? Who registers, who votes?

Definitions/Discussion

Any U.S. Citizen 18 and older is eligible to register to vote.

Established by the US Constitution, 15th, 19th, and 26th Amendments.

States are able to set other eligibility requirements for the following:

Criminal History, e.g. felony, prisoners, those on parole or probation. For a good table that outlines this which states limit eligibility by criminal history, see USATODAY.com - R.I. to revisit felons' voting rights, Table: Voting Restrictions in Each State]

Residency

Mental competency or incapacity

Loyalty oath

Swear or affirm to "support and defend the Constitution of the U.S. and the State of Alabama and further disavow any belief or affiliation with any group which advocates the overthrow of the governments of the U. S. or the State of Alabama by unlawful means and that the information contained herein is true, so help me God."

Basic Information Collected on a voter registration form/questionnaire:
Citizenship, Name, Address, Date of Birth, and Political Party
NOTE: This is based on the national mail voter registration form; state forms may ask for gender or other information.

Information that is collected on the registration form may not be reported, published or madepublicly available. Some states only publish total number of registered voters by political party; some have registration statistics by age, gender, race, and party.

The smallest geographic unit with reported statistics available may only be the county or precinct.

States who collect and report racial and ethnicity information on voter registration form:

Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina - require information, but will not deny voting rights if left blank

Voter Registration information may be compiled by the Secretary of State’s Election office or State Elections Board (or equivalent) or this information may also be available through the County Clerk’s Elections office. To get the statistics or microdata to answer a question about voter registration, you might have to contact the state or county offices directly for assistance. A good source list for all fifty states is available from Declare Yourself, State by State Voter Registration Information

Defining the Question

Geography - the U.S., county, city, neighborhood, congressional district

Questionnaire - what questions were asked; shows what will and won't be available in the data

Variables - responses to questionnaire and how they are organized

Context - what is the hypothesis, e.g. "middle income people are more likely to register and vote than lower income".

Mapping the Question to Sources

Statistics or published statistics by an agency - summary statistics; may not have all the geographies but will help you determine the source of the data; often going to the agency responsible for collecting the data, you can get statistics, aggregate data, and in many cases microdata.

Articles - newspapers will report statistics, sometimes at a local level; good for finding out votes cast, turnout immediately and the source of the data. Scholarly articles to find studies that examine a particular question and utilize standard data sources or create their own; a good way to find out source survey and microdata

Aggregate Data

Microdata - using a source that indexes surveys and microdata, like ICPSR can help you locate study detailes, questionnaires, codebooks and variables that cover what you study, especially if the published statistics from a government agency does not collect the information. Reading the codebooks, questionnaires, and other documentation will help you determine which datasets you can use, if the information collected will cover the variables you want.

Government Sources

Decennial Census

Population Estimates

American Community Survey

Current Population Survey, November Supplement

Report of Registration (Registration)

Statement of Vote (Election Results)

Non-governmental Sources

News Sources

Surveys (other than CPS)

Polls

Sources

The following sources will give you population numbers and characteristics of those 18 and older in the U.S. However, being 18 or older does not necessarily signify that they have registered to vote.

Decennial Census

Description: The enumeration of the American people conducted every ten years as stipulated in Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution of the United States, used for the apportionment of seat in the House of Representatives. (Aggregate Data) More information... and the History of the Census

Note: Voter Registration and Turnout data is often available by City, County, Congressional District, State Assembly and Senate Districts.

Current Population Survey (CPS)

Description: Current Population Survey (CPS) is a monthly survey of about 50,000 households conducted by the Bureau of the Census for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The survey has been conducted for more than 50 years. Demographic and voter registration and turnout data is available. This is a survey not a census, so the numbers are weighted to represent the entire population. The November Supplement contains the voter registration data, one can also get basic demographic and socioeconomic data from it as well.

Geography: Nation, Division, Region, State, [these geographies are available in the microdata only - Metropolitan Areas, some cities]; only for the 50 states and the District of Columbia; does not include Puerto Rico.=

Variables: Employment, unemployment, earnings, hours of work, and other indicators. They are available by a variety of demographic characteristics including age, sex, race, marital status, and educational attainment. They are also available by occupation, industry, and class of worker. Supplemental questions to produce estimates on a variety of topics including school enrollment, income, previous work experience, health, employee benefits, and work schedules are also often added to the regular CPS questionnaire.

Units of analysis: Population represented is the civilian population living in the United States; people in the military, living abroad and in institutions are not included in the CPS.

Description: Population estimates are for the past and present and are published every year. The numbers collected are based on statistical methods to compute the population growth; they can be on target or wildly wrong each year. Data used to compute the population estimates are: the census of population, birth and death data from the National Center for Health Statistics, tax return data from IRS, and sample of information from Social Security for internal migration, and immigration from Department of Homeland Security. Read the information for specifics.

Geography: Nation, State, County, Place, Metropolitan Areas

Time period: Annual estimates of population change;

Variables: Sex, Age, Race, Hispanic or Latino, Housing Unit

Units of Analysis: Individuals

Access:US Census Population Estimates Note you can access population estimates via Fact Finder, but it does not have all of the tables available that the estimates page has. Entire data set is available for downloading.

Each state has a department that is responsible for publishing and forecasting demographic information. They typically compile data published by the Census. Here are a few examples; NOTE: departments will vary by state. TIP go to a state website and search for state demographics or demographic statistics. Geographies, Time periods, variables, and units of analyses available from states will vary.

List of State Agencies
Find the department in your state that is responsible for compiling population or demographic statistics and add it here:

Voter Registration

Definitions/Discussion

Standard published voter registration statistics across all states that can be obtained through a States Secretary of State or Election Office. You can see the total number of registered usually by city, county, assembly, senate districts for democrats, republicans, independents (not all states use this to report out), and other. Other geographies might include:

Some states collect and report registration by gender and age: [insert states here]

If you need to access the microdata files for registration roles, you can contact the office directly. Be aware that each state will have laws that dictate what information from registration files is considered public record. For example, in California, [insert PR law]. However, in Washington state, if you are a voter, your name, address, political jurisdiction, gender, date of birth, voting record, date of registration, and registration number are public information under state law.RCW 29A.08.710

Under the Help America Vote Act, states are required to create a Voter Registration Database. This information void of personal identifying information, is to be made publicly available.

Registration Forms (the questionnaire)

There are numerous organizations with an online presence that want to help people get registered. A person can obtain forms from their Secretary of State's Election Office or equivalent; County Clerk Recorder, City Clerk's Office, th

Election Assistance Commission Established as an independent nonpartisan agency by the Help America Vote Act of 2000, EAC's primary purpose is to develop guidance to meet HAVA requirements, adopt voluntary voting system guidelines, and serve as a national clearinghouse of information about election administration. EAC also accredits testing laboratories and certifies voting systems, as well as audits the use of HAVA funds. They also maintain the official national mail voter registration form.

Non-profits/political action groups

Can I Vote? A voter information website developed by the National Association of Secretaries of State to help people get registered, find polling places, etc.

Sources

Lijphhart Elections Archive A collection of district level election results for 26 countries, US included. Publications of statistics and access to data files up to 2003 are available.

Voter registration databases are available on:

Lexis - about 30 states (FINDER;xxVOTE for a particular state; FINDER;USVOTE for all the states at once);

Accurint - about 20 states the voter registration is listed under the "Licenses" tab);

Westlaw - about 20 states (VOTERS-xx for a single state; VOTERS-ALL for all the states at once).

Voter Turnout - Who Voted?

Definitions/Discussion

There are numerous studies that examine voter turnout and why it is so low. Some posit that barriers to voter registration account for some of it; others look at specific socio-economic factors that keep people from voting or motivate them to vote. The following section on Legislation, Policy and Studies offers some methods for finding these studies.

The important thing to keep in mind with turnout data is that official sources of voter turnout do not collect anything other than number of voters, by party, typically down to the precinct level. A typical question about voter turnout goes something like this: "I want to know how many Democrats voted for Clinton in the 1996 election and how many were men and women; also I want to know how many were African American." The sources listed in this section will not give you that level of detail - specifically statistics by gender or race. One needs to rely on Exit Polls and Survey Data to get at that level of detail. For each entry, I've given a paragraph summary of the level of geography, time period, variables, units of analysis, and anything that was unique or particularly helpful.

Sources

A great place to start your research on voter turnout. This page includes general information and discussions about voter turnout, sources for statistics, turnout trends and gaps, and good bibliography of voter turnout studies.

Chapter 2, Primary Sources and Finding Tools has good section on Election Data, covering all of the standard sources in print.

News Sources

Statistical Abstract of the United States Elections Total votes cast for presidential, congressional and gubernatorial races, broken down by democratic and republican. Electoral and popular votes. Also includes summary information on voter registration.

LA County Statement of Votes Cast Election Results (2000-present) Access to reports that show city or precinct breakdown of total ballots cast for a specific contest along with ballots cast totals for each candidate or in the case of local/statewide measures/propositions.

California Elections Data Archive (CEDA) is a joint project of the Center for California Studies and the Institute for Social Research (ISR), both of California State University, Sacramento (CSUS) and the Office of the California Secretary of State. The purpose of CEDA is to provide researchers, citizens, public agencies and other interested parties with a single repository of local election data. CEDA summarizes candidate and ballot measure results for county, city, community college and school district elections in over 6,000 jurisdictions throughout California.

(1920).Statistics of the congressional and presidential election of ...,

The House Clerk collects and published he official vote counts for federal elections – presidential and congressional, from the official sources among the various states and territories. Print edition covers 1920-1962

Total Votes for presidential, congressional, and gubernatorial primary and general elections by state, congressional district and county level for all 50 states, by major party. Published since 1928. Later volumes also give total registered voters for state.

Book of States, Lexington, KY: Council of State Governments.

Each year contains a chapter on Elections, with an introductory article on an election issue. The tables in this section range from polling hours for general elections, election dates for national, state and local elections, offices running for election, voting statistics by region and state for primary and general gubernatorial elections, by Republican, Democrat, Independent and Other; and voter turnout for presidential elections by state, shows total number of voting age population, number registered, and number who voted.. There is also a chapter on Initiatives and Referendums appearing on ballots.

(2005). Presidential elections, 1789-2004.. Washington DC: CQ Press.

Statistics for popular vote by state by party; popular votes for minor candidates and write-ins by state; electoral votes by state by candidate for president, electoral votes for vice president. The introductory chapter offers good historical context for presidential elections, parties and candidates that ran.

Statistics for each state by State House and Assembly districts; includes general election results by party; and basic demographic information: population for 2000 and 2006, percentages for average household income, education level for population 25+, below poverty, and race. Maps for districts are included as is a general overview and discussion of republican and democratic trends/changes in the states.

A year of many contested primaries, the year of Ross Perot, – 1992. Republican and Democratic primary statistics by state and county for registration, total vote, votes cast by candidate, percentages of total votes. Includes delegate allocation method and total number of delegates.

Statistics on “electoral behavior” in the United States. US and state tables for popular vote and electoral votes for president, 1920-2004; tables by state, electoral vote, total vote, total Republican, Democratic, Other and Republican-Democratic Plurality, percentages of total vote also given. Chapters for each of the fifty states provide statistics by county.

Rusk, JG. (2001). A statistical history of the American electorate. Washington DC: CQ Press. Lexington, Ky. [etc.] Council of State Governments.

The first three chapters provide a rich history and charts that details the inaccuracy of election data; who can register to vote; who votes. Other chapters cover specific races: presidential – tables for popular and electoral votes, election results by party, covering 1788 -1996 by region, state; house, senate, and gubernatorial.